5 talking points ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix

08 June 2016 12:53

Formula One heads to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix. Here, Press Association Sport assesses the key talking points ahead of Sunday's race.

Lewis Hamilton finally opened his winning account for the 2016 campaign with victory at the Monaco Grand Prix. Hamilton's triumph ended a seven-month losing streak, and with Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg limping home in seventh, he dramatically slashed the gap from 43 to 24 points in the championship. Hamilton, who has spent time with Canadian pop star Justin Bieber in the build-up to Sunday's race, said: "I've proven that I'm just as strong as I've ever been and I will be for the rest of the year, so I'm looking forward to the next chapter." And the Gilles-Villeneuve Circuit is one which suits the Briton. He claimed his debut victory here in 2007, and has won on three subsequent occasions. Advantage, Lewis?

In contrast, Rosberg is yet to win in Canada, and he arrives here following his worst display of the campaign. The German, who remains in charge of the championship courtesy of winning the opening four rounds, was so slow in the opening phase of the rain-hit Monte Carlo race, that he was ordered by Mercedes to move out of Hamilton's way. Rosberg blamed his poor performance in the principality on "bad luck", but how he bounces back this week will provide us with a stern examination of his championship credentials.

Daniel Ricciardo will be hoping bad luck does not come in threes after having victory snatched from his grasp at the Spanish and Monaco Grands Prix. A tactical gaffe cost him the win in Barcelona, before a pit-stop blunder in Monaco saw Red Bull gift-wrap the victory for Hamilton. Ricciardo, who started from pole in Monaco, was furious after the race, but he insists he will back on point in Montreal. "Now that I've sort of got over Monaco, I just want to get back in the car and basically smash it and get amongst it," he said. "You're going to see the same intensity that you saw in Monaco. I plan on keeping that up and not letting anything else get in the way."

Somewhat farcically, Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix will be followed by Azerbaijan's debut on the Formula One calendar just seven days later. Baku, 5,545 miles to the east of Montreal, will play host to the European Grand Prix, and it marks the first of six back-to-back races this season. Indeed, the sport is braced for arguably the most hectic run of its history with six grands prix in just eight weekends.

Sticking with Baku, Bernie Ecclestone has been urged to take a public stand against Azerbaijan's human rights record ahead of the debut race. Sport For Rights - an organisation established to draw attention to the oil-rich state's human rights record - held discussions with top-ranking F1 officials earlier this week to discuss the issue, but while Ecclestone, the sport's 85-year-old chief executive, was not among the parties present, the meeting was described as "constructive" by the campaign group.

Source: PA